Tripping or Falling

Carguy2Banker

Carguy2Banker

Active member
So, maybe I'm not quite as nimble as I once was, and still feel like I get around pretty well. I'm not yet 50, I can walk heavy cover for an entire day, and have already recorded over 100 miles in 6 weekends of going out this season, but...

I have tripped (fallen as my son says) 3 times, all the way to the ground, due to a hole or fence post or old fence hidden in the weeds.

I don't think I've fallen like this 3 times in my life while hunting. Is this what hunting is like as I age, or is this just bad coincidences piling up in one year? For those wondering, I always carry my gun on safety and I did check for barrel obstructions all 3 times after picking up my pride that was scattered everywhere.
 
Carguy2Banker said:
So, maybe I'm not quite as nimble as I once was, and still feel like I get around pretty well. I'm not yet 50, I can walk heavy cover for an entire day, and have already recorded over 100 miles in 6 weekends of going out this season, but...

I have tripped (fallen as my son says) 3 times, all the way to the ground, due to a hole or fence post or old fence hidden in the weeds.

I don't think I've fallen like this 3 times in my life while hunting. Is this what hunting is like as I age, or is this just bad coincidences piling up in one year? For those wondering, I always carry my gun on safety and I did check for barrel obstructions all 3 times after picking up my pride that was scattered everywhere.
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Funny, because I have been wondering that too. At least 3 falls last year (one that damaged a finger), and countless this year (2 this past weekend). For me, I am thinking lowered reaction time and slightly lowered coordination. I think, overall, I would have been above average in those, in the past. I am guessing I am moving as if I'm still at the same level, and I'm not. Probably not a huge difference, but enough to put me on the ground.

It is possible I am just putting on more miles in recent years than in the past and it is a function of X falls per Y steps, with Y being higher now.
Those badger holes need to be outlawed. Branches and cattails can be real jerks too.
 
The dogs were pointing Sunday. I saw a rooster trying to dart back in the brush on them but it flushed when it saw me. I turned to cut him off just when he flushed and I tripped falling flat on the ground. Only thing hurt was my pride but all I could do is laugh as Mr. Rudy laughed as he flew away untouched.
 
The badger holes have been worse around here for the past couple years for unknown reasons, more badgers is likely the reason?!?
Good to know I'm not alone. I am going to start tracking my step to fall ratio so i have a baseline for future purposes.
 
If you aren't occasionally falling down you are spending too much time blocking. There is reason why I have had 6 butt stocks on my old 870.

A few years back I broke my ankle in Febuary. Due to heart issues it was 6 weeks before my ankle was operated on. That fall I fell 6 times in the first field. It got better within a couple weeks.
 
Carguy2Banker said:
The badger holes have been worse around here for the past couple years for unknown reasons, more badgers is likely the reason?!?
Good to know I'm not alone. I am going to start tracking my step to fall ratio so i have a baseline for future purposes.
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Glad to hear I am not the only one. I have seen more badger holes the past 2 years than any other time.
 
Weimdogman said:
If you aren't occasionally falling down you are spending too much time blocking. There is reason why I have had 6 butt stocks on my old 870.
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Ouch!
Weimdogman said:
A few years back I broke my ankle in Febuary. Due to heart issues it was 6 weeks before my ankle was operated on. That fall I fell 6 times in the first field. It got better within a couple weeks.
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Double ouch! First field!!!
 
two years ago i was working through some thick and tall grass and stepped into a gopher hole all the way up to my knee. i didn't fight it and fell all the way to the ground, which probably spared a nasty injury to my knee. i did, however, tweak my back that apparently has a bulgin disc and give sme fits from time to time.

i was about a mile and a half from my truck in the middle of nowhere. as it were, I went and left my phone in the truck on accident. as i lay on the ground trying to free my leg from the gopher hole, it occurred to me that if I had suffered a catastrohic injury (broken leg, broken hip, ruptured disc, stroke or hear attack) there's no telling how long I would have been out in the middle of the field before someone happened along to find me.
 
gps4 said:
two years ago i was working through some thick and tall grass and stepped into a gopher hole all the way up to my knee. i didn't fight it and fell all the way to the ground, which probably spared a nasty injury to my knee. i did, however, tweak my back that apparently has a bulgin disc and give sme fits from time to time.

i was about a mile and a half from my truck in the middle of nowhere. as it were, I went and left my phone in the truck on accident. as i lay on the ground trying to free my leg from the gopher hole, it occurred to me that if I had suffered a catastrohic injury (broken leg, broken hip, ruptured disc, stroke or hear attack) there's no telling how long I would have been out in the middle of the field before someone happened along to find me.
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Reading this makes me think I should consider communicating my whereabouts more frequently. Often times, when I leave the house, I never know where I'll end and I don't communicate my plans at all. Some of the best hunting spots I've found don't have cell phone signal at all...this could pose a problem!
 
Carguy2Banker said:
Some of the best hunting spots I've found don't have cell phone signal at all...this could pose a problem!
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Yes, it could.

The personal locator beacon/messaging devices use satellites. They should work anywhere.

This should be available next year for a beta program. When it is fully available, it could save some money, versus the separate subscriptions for a cellular plan and a satellite messaging plan.

https://www.t-mobile.com/news/network/t-mobile-starlink-direct-to-cell-beta-registration
 
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My wife had me download an app called Life 360. You can form a family circle and track everyone in the circle on your cell phone. I'm 78 and hunt alone a lot so my wife wants her and my daughters to be able to track me in case something would happen in the field. Like the rest on this thread, I've fallen numerous times also. Doesn't seem to take much anymore. It gives my family some peace of mind to know where I am, and if I'm moving.
 
Funny topic. Until 3-4 years ago (56 or 57 years old), I really hadn't fallen. That year I had 2 dandies and another one or 2, maybe one or 2 since, but not this season...yet. One hard fall I got tangled in a dog cable by my back door, the other was into a big badger-hole, I fell hard...that really gets your attention.
 
remy3424 said:
Funny topic. Until 3-4 years ago (56 or 57 years old), I really hadn't fallen. That year I had 2 dandies and another one or 2, maybe one or 2 since, but not this season...yet. One hard fall I got tangled in a dog cable by my back door, the other was into a big badger-hole, I fell hard...that really gets your attention.
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I took a bad fall in some ice while hunting this winter.Landed on my back.
 
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